Saltwater Crocodile - Data, Pictures and Videos

[KRA123]

Today I want to make a post about variation in the saltwater crocodile. I couldn’t find anything published on the phylogeography of this species, but broadly speaking, Crocodylus porosus can be divided into two different morphological groups based on whether post-occipital scutes are usually present or absent; The two groups have parapatric distributions.
The first group consists of saltwater crocodiles from Sri Lanka, Mainland India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and the Andaman Islands. These crocodiles usually have post-occipital scutes present.

C. porosus from Sri lanka

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C. porosus from mainland India (Bhitarkanika)
 

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C. porosus from Indian side of Sundarbans
 

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C. porosus form Bangladesh

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C. porosus from Myanmar, where they are restricted to the Ayeyarwady delta region, Rekhine coastal area and Tanintharyi coastal area

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C. porosus from Andaman Islands

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The saltwater crocodile is extirpated from the Seychelles. Based on proximity, the Seychelles population may have belonged to the group with post-occipital scutes present, since this group has the more westerly distribution.
 
The second morphological group consists of saltwater crocodiles in which the post-occipital scutes are usually absent. These crocodiles are found in Singapore, The Phillipines, Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands

C. porosus from Singapore

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C. porosus from The Phillipines

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C. porosus from Borneo
 

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C. porosus from Australia

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C. porosus from New Guinea

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C. porosus from Solomon Islands

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The saltwater crocodile is critically endangered in Mainland Southeast Asia and is already extinct in Vietnam, Cambodia and possibly Thailand. It may also have existed in Southern China and perhaps even Laos. I couldn’t find any definite photos of wild saltwater crocodiles from this region, but pure C. porosus in crocodile farms in this area tend not to have post-occipital scutes. The photo below is supposedly of a large male saltwater crocodile killed in Cambodia in the late 20th Century.

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Overall, I would say the saltwater crocodile is remarkably consistent in morphology, maximum size and color across its huge range, but there is some variation nonetheless. Reply